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= 6 , » [, _ : ,. s „ „ - , . ; ", J l [ t J . j ■ j J | j , . , I I ■ , , , i J , . 1 . " ■ , • ; • _ , ■ ■* *■ L- ~ • !t N. , ■ 1 _ "" — " r ! " M ■ a " _ — — — :, j :, I 5 OLD-TIME METHODS OF TRAINING. ai Quaint Description of Remarkable Courses of Treat- was w ment to Which Horses Were Subjected. the .m egg Perhaps the oldest detailed directions extant for training a race horse are found in •"The Parfait to j. for MareeehaL" a rare old book by Sieur de Solleyscll. " eiiuerry to Louis XIV. of France. who said that he j be obtained them from "a hntVe cavalleer. who assured . me he had it in England from a person whose only " the iiuploynienl was to prepare and dyet running the j horses." Sir William Hope, who translated Solley-selFs work into English in MSB, expressed the ■ opinion that this method of training was then TBfJ ancient, saying: --It dittereth vastly from the man- JJ to be ■at of preparing race botaea used now a dayes." be That the Pritish race horse was then, as now, in- "■ be comparable for swiftness, though neither the "rajrai mares" nor stallions that are the generally nccred- " •ted fountain heads of the present-day breed of runners had yet been imported into England, appears H 1 from the advice given as to the choice of a horse £ for running. , "In England." says the author, "they have horses which arc- only designed and kept for performing the j. as great courses, and they delight so much in this J, the livertisement that they dyet horses expressly for it, at so that their horses, which are naturally well winded " and extremely swift, are put into such a condition and " by this manner of preparation that they perform be . courses which are incredible, and that not at a slow .. or round gallop, as our horses, but at full spet-d, so that people who have never seen it can scarcely be " perswaded that any horse could endure and hold out with the violence of such courses for live at six miles, and yet many horses in that kingdom arc • a known to furnish carriers of that length." In the time of the old Knglish jockey whose train- •. ing methods have been Imnded down by Solleyscll. it. jf hay and oats, which now constitute the diet of the high-mettled racer, were not on his bill of fare. The trainer of that day. like Captain Jinks of the Horse g Marines, fed his horse on corn and beans, made up .. into loaves like bread, the term corn, in England, ,, comprehending all small grain. "Cause make bread for hiin of half barley and half hrana. baking them in the form of pretty thick J cakes." the old Knglish jockey says. V:tnd «°t giv- ing them to the horse until they are a few days ■ old. Three pounds at twelve a clock and three JJ to pounds at night is sufficient for him in twenty-four 5 hours and that in place of his oats or provender. ■ Instead of hay let him have wheat sheaves un- ■ threshed and with the oats upon them." ! It is worthy of note that many trainers of run- " ners and trotters today feed little or no hay, but . substitute oats cut "in the milk" and cured, straw. ■ grain and all. like hay. The practice originated in California, hence the term "California hay." After thus "dyeting" the racer four days, while J of he was kept in a darkened stall, it was in order. ■ on the morning of the lifth day. to give him a ball. ■ This was made bv mixing one pound of fresh butter ■ with twentv-tive "or thirty "loves" of garlic, and J,1 was to lie washed down with a apart of white wine. • On the second day after administering the ball the trainer was directed to "air him abroad just , after sun rising for the space of an hour, and as *J much at night before sunset, sometimes racking or ■ stepping and sometimes galloping him. but. if he continued too fat. then you must take him abroad of in the morning an hour after sun rising and in the ■ evening keep him hIso abroad an lmur after the sun * is set: fl.eu. bringing him back to the stable, rub £ and cover him well and give him his ordinary por- * tioit of fcod. And thus continue to air and exercise ■ him everv dav. giving him always every tilth day J his pound of butter made up with garlic into balls. and also observing not to air or take him abroad, J neither the day he taketh his balls nor the day ■ following." J fifteen days after going into training the horse was to be exercised two hours in the morning and ■ two hours at night, "sometimes at full speed, then J at a good gallop, and afterwards at a step, that so J he mav recover his wind." One month of this work was deemed sufficient to J tit sonie horses for a match, but the trainer was J cautioned to continue the balls and the bread and exercise as directed unless the animal appeared to be read? at the end of four week-. J Two days before the match the horse was muzzled j at night, and at two oclock in the atoning was given three pints of sack, into which the yolks of twenty or twenty-five new-lai.l eggs had been beaten. J At four o"e!ock he was galloped, gently at first and j. then at full speed, "as long as his wind will allow it: afterwards to a gentle gallop, again to give him I wind." This for three hours, followed by a rub- J down and then by a not drink and the usual feed. On the day of Cue match the racer got his former quantity of eggs and sack, but only one-half his J usual allowance of bread and wheat sheaves. Tie- filial injunction of the old English jockey is v particularly interesting, as showing that Tod Sloan was perhaps not, after all. the originator of the stvle of riding now known in England as "the American seat." and that the principle of avoiding the resistance ..f the atmosphere was betfer under -v Stood by the horsemen of three or four hundred years ago than bv some of those who pass as such today. Here it is:" ; "The rider is to lean a little forewards to prevent •! the wind taking too much upon his body, and also to have loathes very light and fit for him. but no , ■ Hying or loose coat, only a rap in place of a hat." Much more elab.wate. intricate and artificial is ] the course of treatment laid down by Sir William -Hope in his diieciious for training a hors" for a match. This he r commends in preference to the j old Knglish jock-ys method as more modern, "which I have had "experience of my self, and is. I lielieve, indeed one of the best which hath been as yet pub-" lished." Two mouths was the time allowed by him for pre-s paring a horse Cat a match. He says that some , hois.- ke.oers demand six months, but these he . charges with the nor yet obsolete practice known as "training owners." and embraces the opnortunity to read them a lecture on the mistake "bv which 1 they rob their masters of four months pleasure, engadge him in an expensive charge, which will J make the sport loathsome, and onlv give them 1 few false got crowns, which vanish so soon as gained. "As hereticks cite Scripture." he says, "so these , fKNiplc rind reasons to defend their want of skill and I experience as the danger of too violent exercise, the . . offence of grease t.Hi suddenly melted, the moving of humors too hastily, which leads to mortal sickness, and the moderating and helping of all these by a [ slow proceeding, or bringing the horse into order by . degrees and time. or. as I mav rather say. by an , ignorant delay and sufferance. It is like the curing of a gangaren in an old man. Hotter to die than lie dismembered, better lose the prize or bets than bear the charges, for I appail te any noble judgment whose purse hath experienced soea actions, if six months preparation with the dependants to it doth not eat up and devour the better half of a tweutv-fiv»- or thirty jiouiid wager, therefore, for any ordinary match or l»et I allow as 1 said but two months to prepare a horse for it. it being most certain that a boree who cannot make a good hear in that time will very randy make an cxtracrdinary one. though you should dyet htm triple or quadruple that space." Sir William Hope separated his course of training into four periods of a fortnight each, prescribing different treatment and different feed for each. For the first fortnight, assuming the horse to lie fat and soft, the trainer was directed to give liim e.nh dav four quart* of oats together with throe "small bundles" of bay, feeding him one quart of oats at a meal, or a little mot" if the horse was ■ hearty feeder. After having been groomed before daylight in the morning the racer was closely wrapped in a body cloth and exercised to give him a sweat. "Walk or rack him only a foot pace Tor you must neither amble n« r trot, because they are lioth prejudicial to s|K-ed or sw iftness P . at leant I mile or two. or more if you think fit. anon smooth and equal ground, and if it have ■ gentle rising so much the better: there gallop him gently, afterward walk him softly, so that he tnav coal as much one nay aa he war.netb another, and when you have thus exercised him a pretty sjiace and feeling t lie sun begin to rK« ..r els.- newly risen, rack him down lo soin" fresh river or Clear pond and there let him drink at his pleasure. After be hath drunk bring him gently out of Ihe Mater and rack him away very easily When vou have thus walked him a little calmly7, put him into a gallon gently, and exercise hiin moderately as J o;i did before, then walk him a. little anaae. after whi.-h offer him more water. If he drinks then gallop him again gently: if not then gallop him a little more to occasion thirst, and in this manner give him alwavs pxercise before and after water, and when you judge he hath drunk siifticientlv bring him home." Arrivd el the stable Bus horse was rnttbed dawn and after an hours peat he was fed. Again at eleven oclock, then at one oclock, and finally at nine oclock at night he got bis quart of "sweet, dry. o!.l and lean drost oats." At evening he was "aired" again by walking and galloping under blan kits, and iust l c fore his evening meal his legs were to be well tabbed down with wisps oi" straw. In the sec, hi, 1 fortnight faal work was began, and with it weat some changes in feeding. Hay waa cat off. excepting :i few ban, lluls. and bread, combining three parts of beans with ouo part of wheat, was ai was w the .m egg to j. for " j . be " the the j ■ JJ to be be "■ be " H £ 1 , as j. J, the at " and " . be .. " • a •. it. jf g .. ,, J ■ JJ to 5 ■ ■ ! " . ■ J of ■ ■ ■ J,1 • , *J ■ ■ of * * £ ■ J ■ J J ■ J J J J J j J j. I J J v -v ; •! , ■ ] j , . 1 J , I . . [ . , added to the bill of fare, except on the days preceding work-out days, which came twice a week. On the morning thai the trainer, or keeper, as he then called, intended to give him a heat, the racers breakfast was a quart oi oats rubbed between hands with s. me bam or ale. then a new-laid or two. wasled down with a little beer or ale. "In giving 1 f beats," says the author, "you ar consider first, that two in the week are sufficient anv horse of whatsoever condition or state of body. Secondly, that one of them should alwayes "given upon that day of the week in which your horse is to run his match, and that also still to be sharpest for increasing of his heels or swiftness, other being only a slow galloping over the cours. . more to iicrease wind and cause sweat, than to improve his speed, and therefore I would have yon order them thus: Suppose your match day Is to upon a .Monday, then your heating dayes must Mondays and Fridays, and the sharper heat to upon the Monday, because it is the day of his match. Thirdly, you shall give no heat in rain or foul weather, and in case of sudden shours you shall have for your hatM a bead to keep out the rain. at nothing is more dangerous than cold wet falling into the ears and upon the nap of the neck. Fourthly. observe to give your heats as early in the morning you can; that is. by the spring of the da; . Fifthly and lastly, rack your horse gently up m starting post if" there be any. making him smell it. that so he may tioth be •acquainted with it also know the beginning and ending of tho nana, at near a three -quarters speed, and if it upon the day of the week which his match is to fall in. then according to his strength, goodness of wind ;:nd che--rf illness of spirit, run lihu the whole course thorow. and by no means do anything in extremity, or above his wind, but When you find him little yeeld. then draw a little and give him nana, that he" may do all with pleasure and not with anguish, for his manner of training will make hiin take delight in his labour and so the better endure "When you have finished your heat and gently gallop hiin" up and down to rate his wind and clear ids eptrits you shall then the groom lieing ready ride into some warm plai;e or corner, and with your glassing or scraping knife, made either of some broken sword blade or a thin piece of old hard oaken wood, scrape off the sweat from your horse in every part buttocks excepted, until you can make no more arise, still moving him now and then a little keep his limbs in motion, then with dry cloaths rub him all over, and last of all walk him about the lieiils |a cool him. and when you Bad him begin to dry apace, then rack iiim homewards, sometimes stepping and sometimes galloping, but by no meant* bring liim to the stable till you find him thoroughly dry. Then set him up and ty him to the rack, and having prepared it against your coming, give him this scouring: "Take an English pint or Scotch mutchkin of the syrup of roses, or. for want of it. the like quantity strong honyed water, and dissolve into it of eaaaata, agarics and auiihc, of each one ounce. shaking them well together in a glass, then being muld and made warm upon a gentle fire, and the horse newly come from his heat, give it to him lukewarm."- This dose was repeated after every heating" during the second fortnight, in which "there is no d.uht but his body will be drawn inwardly pretty clean." For the third fortnight the racers bread was made equal proportions et beans and wheat, his heats were not quite so sharp as before and the scourings gave place to cordial balls made up after "the true receipt of Mr. Markhanis. so much esteemed by tho generally of our English farriers." The ingredients were ■aniseeds, ciiininseeds. fennegreek seeds, car-thaaeaa seeds, elecampain roots and coltsfoot, of each two ouncs. as also two ounces of the flour of brimstone, then an ounce of the juice of liquorish, dissolved on the fire in half an English pint of white wine, which done, take of the chymical oyl of aniseeds one ounce, or sallet oyl. honey and molasses, of each half an English pint, then mix all these With the former powders, and with as much fine wheat ilower as will knit them together into a stiff past, which make into balls as big as a liens egg. to give your horse as you shall find occasion for them." These balls wire given almost daily during the third fortnight, sometimes anointed with fresh butter to prevent sickness, and again dissolved in sack for the cure of colds. Three parts of wheat lo one part of beans, kneaded with strong new ale and the white of twenty-five or thirl v eggs were the ingredients of the racers bread for the fourth, and final, fortnight of his truly grand preparation. "Y u shall make yuur bread much finer Ban before," says the author, "and with the crust cut first away, and clean oats well dryed ami dressed, as also some pure split beans, all mixed together, or severally as you shall think fit. Feci your horse at his ordinary meals, as you did in the second ami third fortnights, only in this last fortnight you shall observe these few directions following: "First, yen shall keep your heating dayes the fir~t week of ibis fortnight, but the second or last week ou shall forbear one heat and not give your horse any rive dayes lief, re his match, but for it give him only strong and long airings and watering courses. and U morning and evening during the fortnight you burn frankim-ence in the stable yea will find it v.ry wholesome for your horse, and he will also mightily delight in it. "This fortnight give him no hay but what he taketb out of onr hand after his heats, and also let that be in little quantity and clean dusted. "The last amah of this fortnight, if the horse be a foul feeder, you must use the muzzle coninually. but if a clean" feedet then three dayes before the match is sufficient. "The morning et the day for the match come to him verv earlv. and taking off his muzzle give him a pretty quantity of oats, washed in the whiles et eggs, liiiiska.line et ch.-nie. walk him abroad, bring him home and putting on his muzzle let him rest until you have warning to nmke ready. "When you have warning to make ready, take off bbi muzzle and put on his snaffle, being washed tn a little muskadiue or cherrie, then bridle hitu up and. after pitching the running saihlle and girths with IBKM makers wax. set it ..11 and girt it. Being ready !• draw out. give him half an English pint of niaahadiae or cherrie. and so lead him awav . Walk him softly to the starting post and there. starting fair, perform vou your part by running him to the gnatest advantage be is capable of. and leave the rest to providence. f,,r although we are obliged to use the means and helps at second causes. yel it is that which determineth all. even the most trivial actions any of us poor mortals aga concerned in." in.
